Page 38 of Care: Part 1

"Ow! Stop always pinching," Bella spoke as she rubbed her arm lightly.

"No, he's not my boyfriend," Avelina chuckled, her eyes moving over to Adrik.

He must've told the girl who had asked him for a dance 'no' because now he was talking to the groom, Valentino.

"You have to ignore Bella. She has always been nosy," Anastasia stated.

Bella's mouth dropped as she dramatically placed her hand on her hips. "I am not nosy.”

Out of nowhere, a man walked up to them. He had a lot of tattoos that were practically on every inch of his skin aside from his face. Avelina had never seen someone so tatted before. However, it didn’t look bad on him.

"Baby, come dance with me," he said, holding his hand out to Bella.

She smiled at him before slipping her hand into his. Just as he began to drag her to the dance floor, she turned around and waved goodbye to Avelina.

"That's Vincenzo, her husband," Anastasia said.

Avelina nodded her head in response. They looked so different. Bella appeared to be harmless, while Vincenzo seemed dangerous.

Shifting her gaze, Avelina tried to look at Adrik, but he was gone. Her eyebrows pulled together.

"So, how long have you been working for Mr. Zolotov?" Anastasia asked.

"About a month.”

Unexpectedly, Avelina could hear a loud bang. The guest seemed to have noticed but assumed it was all a part of the party because they cheered loudly. However, Avelina didn't take it as lightly.

When Avelina saw someone running in all black, she jumped up out of her seat and quickly ran off in the sound’s direction. Anastasia swiftly followed as best as she could, but it was difficult due to her pregnant belly.

"Oh, my god!"

Avelina froze asshe took in the scene in front of her. A bullet pierced through the air, and despite how fast it must've flown by, it seemed slow in Avelina's eyes.

Adrik had his gun directed at someone. Her eyes focused on the pulling back of his index finger against the trigger. She even caught a glimpse of the gun flinching back as the smallest bullet erupted with such a deadly force.

The crazy part was that Adrik didn't flinch at all. He looked cold and calculating as if he had done it plenty of times before. Avelina didn't know what to fear more—him or the bullet.

"Avelina!" Anastasia shouted.

Once again, it seemed as though it was happening so slowly. Anastasia sounded muffled in the ears of Avelina. She could not figure out why her body would not allow her to turn to look at Anastasia. All she could focus on was Adrik.

Even when her eyes dropped to follow his hand that grasped his side in pain, she couldn't move a muscle. There was blood that trickled all around his fingers like rain drizzling on the windshield.

When Adrik fell to the ground, everything had finally moved at its average pace again. She could hear the guests still chatting amongst themselves. She could feel the panic from Anastasia just radiating off of her.

"Anastasia, get back to the guests. Now!" Valentino shouted.

Avelina peered over at Anastasia while feeling her eyes brimming with tears. Her lungs felt like they were blocking out any sort of oxygen from entering them. She didn't know what was happening.

Anastasia slowly nodded her head at her husband before grasping Avelina's hand into hers.

"You're experiencing an anxiety attack,” Anastasia let out. “Listen, Adrik needs you right now, so I'm going to need you to breathe. Look at me and breathe.”

Avelina tried to focus on something. . . anything. Then, her eyes met Anastasia's and saw the tranquility that she held so effortlessly. A tranquil that Avelina wished she could have within the depths of her own eyes.

Slowly, Avelina's lungs opened up, and she could just feel the air quickly filling them.

"Good, good," Anastasia spoke just before letting go of Avelina's hand.